STORIES

California dreaming: A visit to an amazing L.A. home.

Rudolph Schindler was an Austrian-born American architect who played a key role in modern architecture and design in the 20th century. His most important works were done in Los Angeles, where he created original designs of homes suited to the California climate. He's known for his inventive use of complex three-dimensional dorms, warm materials, and striking colors.

Floyd takes a visit to a curious Quonset Hut living community in Detroit.

The Quonset Hut design was first developed during WWII. The U.S. Army needed a versatile, multi-use structure that was easy to ship and could be assembled without any special skills or tools. They were shipped as kits that would be put together on site and easily break down for transport to the next location. The huts had the benefit of a flexible open floor plan that allowed for many different uses and could be adapted over time.

The Record Setting Floyd Bed Frame!

A visit to the Brooklyn apartment of Etsy team member, Casey — a space centered on simplicity & a refreshing arrangement of plant life.

Tell us about the work you do.

During the day, I work at Etsy as the senior manager of social media. On the side, I’m also collaborating with my friend on his furniture design studio, Studio Snng. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to be at a company that is so passionate about empowering creative entrepreneurs and also work directly with one of the most talented creative entrepreneurs I know.

A few months back when we first launched The Floyd Bed Frame, we thought it would be fun to deliver some bed frames in person to a few Detroit customers.

One customer in particular ended up being only three blocks from our office! We met Tyler, who was just getting ready to move one floor up with his girlfriend, Lia. They were also being joined by Jaws, their cat, who they describe as “kind of wild, but we like that about him.” They invited us back a few months later to see their new setup.

Lia is a poet and is working on a manuscript for her first poetry collection, and also recently began working with the Inside Out Literary Arts Project. Tyler is a regional planner with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments with a big focus on linking the trails in the Metro Detroit area to other trail networks statewide. He's also a great photographer. They met in Michigan but lived in New York for a couple years after college. The two also had a short stint in North Carolina, living in the attic of a big old stone house surrounded by mountains (not bad!).

Floyd collaborated with IDEAS CITY & the New Museum to help bring the IDEAS CITY conference to life in Detroit.

Starting from the premise that art and culture are essential to the future vitality of cities, IDEAS CITY provides a vital platform for designers, artists, technologists and policymakers to exchange ideas, identify challenges, propose solutions, and engage the public’s participation. IDEAS CITY brings together thinkers and practitioners from design, art, architecture, urban planning, technology, science, business, sociology, education, and civic and governmental institutions, and fosters collaborations between them.

40 fellows from around the world are spending one week living in the previously abandoned Kiefer Hospital in the New Center Neighborhood of Detroit. Floyd provided special edition galvanized Utility Sets that will move from Detroit on to the next IDEAS CITY conferences in Athens, Arles, & New York. The Fellows set up tables in their workspace using a few found materials from the renovations done on their live/work space in the Kiefer.

Every year during the week of the Salone del Mobile, the biggest furniture & design fair in the world, Milan is abuzz with design.

Designers and companies from all over the globe flock to the city to exhibit their projects. This year, we showcased Floyd at the Fuorisalone, which encompasses all the events that happen outside the main fairgrounds. Our exhibition was located in Atelier Clerici, an independent exhibition project that brought together designers, companies and institutions experimenting with new forms of living and making. We put a couple of Floyd products in our suitcase, and caught a flight to Italy's design capital. When we arrived we scoured the city for surface materials we could make tables from — truly embracing the Floyd spirit of mobility :)

It was a whirlwind of a week, introducing people to Floyd and seeing the latest in the design world. However, by far our favorite part of the week was the city of Milano itself. Beautiful, cosmopolitan, and fast moving, Milan #cityliving was incredibly inspirational and we wanted to share a few photos of our week...

On the day we visited the apartment of designer Ben Barry in
San Francisco,

the sun was shining without a cloud in the sky (a bit of an anomaly as the the rest of our time in San Francisco it rained). Ben welcomed us through his place on a mere days email notice (thanks again!) & showed us his work. In another life, he worked for 6 years as Facebook's first communication designer—these days he spends his time collaborating with awesome companies and designers to bring new projects to life.

Ben recently moved from New York City back to San Francisco & shares an apartment with his girlfriend; they live downstairs and his studio is upstairs. They moved their Floyd tables from New York City to San Francisco, leaving the surfaces behind & finding new ones once they arrived. It’s a cozy office space, with all the tools Ben needs to make new work—and a view looking up a ridge line that certainly inspires.